: Coffee Shop - US x Philippines
by AlozFire
Summary: Maria works efficiently at work until something comes over and interrupts her daily routine.


The smell of coffee filled Maria's nose as she hastily tied her hair into a ponytail and tied on her uniform apron. Months ago, she liked the smell of coffee and how it made her feel relaxed and focused at the same time. But after a while, the same smell just started to get nausiating. She sighed as she rounded the counter and punched in her number into the check-in/out machine. With a beep, it printed out a little receipt indicating what time she started work.

It was pretty busy for a Wednesday morning. Usually she would be in class right now, but due to the weird scheduling, she could take Wednesdays off (not that she complained). Maria's first customer approached followed with another. Soon after, almost all the tables inside the café were filled and there was a long line at the drive through. There were more orders than there was people to make them. And so, Maria decided to help the kitchen people when there was no one at the register.

As the Filipina was in the middle of making a grande mocha frap, the door opened, causing the bells right next to it to ring. She handed the half finished frap to her co-worker and headed over to the register. A pretty cute guy walked inside the café completely engrossed on his phone and made his way to the counter.

"Vente caramel frap, please. Thanks," he ordered, raking through his dirty blonde hair.

"Alright, coming right up!" Maria says with a smile even though she knew he wasn't looking. As she made his order, he leaned against the counter and dug into his pocket for his wallet. "Here you go, sir. That'll be $5.49."

He handed over a ten dollar bill and finally looks up at Maira. The cute guy freezes, his mouth slightly agape, and his bright, blue eyes wide behind a pair of glasses. Maria could feel the heat rise on her cheeks. After a good few seconds, he blinked rapidly and color rose on his pale cheeks.

"Oh, um, yeah... sorry 'bout that." He inhaled deeply before saying something else. "Ha-has this ever happened to you before?"

"Um, I'm not sure what you mean by that." Maria tilted her head curiously.

"This!" he points his finger alternately between the two of us.

"Still not following," Maria shot an apoligetic smile. Now that she noticed, almost the whole café was now watching the two of them.

"You know, a guy sees a pretty girl like you and he freezes and almost drools?" He explained with a grin. "And it's so obvious that he's attracted to you big time?"

A couple of the customers as well as Maria's co-workers giggle or say 'awe'. Maria could only imagine how red her face was right now. The cute guy took out his pocket and leaned closer towards Maria, handing her a hundred dollar bill.

"Here. I'll exit the shop and oretend I forgot my change or something so you have an excuse to follow me outside. If you follow me outside to give me my change, you agree to exchange numbers and to have dinner with me this week. And if you don't want that, then just keep that in your tip box." He takes a sip of his frap with a smile on his face before heading out the store.

"Awe, I couldn't help but stare but," a customer said as she crept closer to the counter. She seemed to be the same age as Maria with her long, wavy brown hair. "he's cute, isn't he? And he's honest too! Something you can't really find these days. So, what're you waiting for? Follow that cutie!"

Some of the customers were cheering on, telling her to go. And even her manager told her she could go outside! Maria gathered the guy's change as well as jotting down her number on a napkin and headed out, her face as red as a tomato. It wasn't due to the pressure that the whole café was urging her to go after the guy, she really was curious about the guy, despite his over confidence.

She finally spotted him, leaning against a red care, sipping on thr frap she gave him. The cute guy glanced up and smiled widely at the sight of her.

"Here's your change and um... my number," Maria tucked in a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she handed it over.

"And here's mine." The cute guy handed over a torn piece of paper. "Well, I'll get going now. Got classes to attend. I'll see 'ya around then." He waved and hopped into his car and drove off.

Maria smiled from ear to ear as she walked back into the café, taking a glance at the cute guy's number.

 _Alfred F. Jones,_ she said the name in her head.


End file.
